724 words

The Radical Change.

The developing countries are minority groups within a predominantly western culture, hence there's pressure to adopt certain ways in order to be perceived as “developed”. Why should development be seen as industrialization or other characteristics of the so-called developed countries Most of the currently poor countries were doing great before colonialism, the World Bank, and when they started to adopt/copy ideologies like democracy and capitalism from western countries, which the Bank requires them to have before they are given loans (Shinebd World News). The Western countries started early on implementing those theories that were natural for them, so by the time the other countries started coping them, they kept lagging behind hence being seen as undeveloped. The Bank seems like an undercover business with long term benefits from these developing countries that are shown how much they need money from the bank to develop. Instead of improving themselves, these developing countries spend almost all their money paying the accumulated loans acquired from the Bank, some of which are interest-based. The world Bank has done more harm than good in developing/poor countries, therefore the solution is to close it.

Since the Bank benefits its major contributors who are the developed and super power countries through the strings attached, it's going to hardly close. George, a political scientist agrees by writing, “Debt is an efficient tool. It ensures access to other peoples’ raw materials and infrastructure on the cheapest possible terms” (George). Nevertheless, if people are educated about the Bank's true works instead of being seen as a savior for developing countries, they will force it to dissolve/reduce it's power. In the meantime, the world Bank shouldn't instill ideologies like democracy, capitalism that have worked in the Western and current world's super powers like the US on developing countries, because cultures are different. One of the theoretical reasons democracy is instilled in many countries is that it brings civilization. I totally disagree with this because the culture of people is the base of whether or not it will work. For example in China, there's a dictatorship, yet it's one of the top successful economies in the world.

Money should be earned from hard work of people particularly through traditional ways of working. In Rwanda the society was divided into three classes that all had a particular work that they did. The Tutsi were cattle keepers and produced all items related to those animals, the Hutu were farmers and grew various crops, the Twa produced pottery equipment, all these groups exchanged commodities through barter trade. There was also a hereditary king who controlled everything and may nowadays be called a dictator, but Rwanda was successful then with no debt, healthier environment and people. When ideologies like democracy and capitalism are required of the developing countries like Rwanda by the Bank in order to be given a loan, that's when everything starts falling apart because the Rwandan culture isn't built on such ideologies.

In a nutshell, if the World Bank were not there, the developing countries would help themselves through tough situations like calamities like volcano eruptions, floods particularly by the culture of sharing and giving in these countries, like they used to before the Bank was established. However, now that the Bank hasn't yet closed, it could only work on helping more in abrupt situations like calamities, instead of giving loans anytime, that will in the end accumulating into massive debt that the developing country will be paying in the long run instead of improving itself. The developing countries should be given an equal strength of voice in the decision making of the World Bank as that of the super power countries that contribute large sums of money to it. Catherine Gwin, a Consultant in the Operations and Evaluation Department at the World Bank, wrote “To pass a major decision, the majority of the board members have to agree. It is the weight of its voice, therefore, more than the exercise of its vote that gives the United States effective power on the board.” (Gwin). Instead of giving a bunch of loans to the developing countries, the Bank should also help those countries by sending elites that will teach foreign skills that led to development, but not necessarily forcing them to adopt them if the skills are against the values of the local people.

Works cited

"Shinebd World News."Shinebd World News. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. <http://www.shinebd.com/world.php?type=news>.

Susan George, A Fate Worse Than Debt, (New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990), pp. 143, 187, 235.

Gwin, Catherine.US Relations with the World Bank 1945-1992. Washington, DC: Brookings Inst.,

1994. Print